Top ten most frequently challenged books of 2003
Out of 458 challenges reported to the Office for Intellectual Freedom
- Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Reasons: sexual content, offensive language, unsuited to age group - Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
Reasons: occult/Satanism - Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
Reason: offensive language - Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture, by Michael Bellesiles
Reason: inaccuracy - Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
Reason: drugs, offensive language, racism, sexual content, violence - Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
Reason: drugs - It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
Reason: homosexuality, nudity, sexual content, sex education - We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier
Reason: offensive language, sexual content - King & King, by Linda de Haan
Reason: homosexuality - Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
Reason: occult/Satanism, offensive language
OIF receives reports from libraries, schools, and the media on attempts to ban books and compiles this information into lists in order to inform the public about censorship in libraries and schools. The ALA condemns censorship and works to ensure free access to information. For more information on ALA's efforts to condemn censorship, please explore Banned Books Week: Celebrating Your Freedom to Read.
The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) does not claim comprehensiveness in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported.
